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“I almost pulled out but then I went to see the doctor and he told me to talk to an age-management doctor. So I went and talked to them and they tested me and said my testosterone was low; they prescribed me testosterone, to bring my testosterone levels back up to levels where I can be like… so that I am the same as young people, like when I was 25, and it would help build my knee up. I hurt my knee like a month ago and I only did three shots of testosterone but it put a lot of weight on me, a lot of muscle on me but it healed me knee up good enough to where I could fight.”

“I gave myself small doses and that shit immediately changed me, that’s why I am saying now I am not going to retire. I am not gonna retire no time soon, it’s just unfortunate that I got this injury. I started hitting it up pretty good, I still gotta take care of my knee but I feel like a 25 year old again. My sex life changed, I was back to five times a night like when I was 25, straight up.”
“So I spoke to the UFC and they were like ‘yeah, a lot of fighters are probably doing it but not telling anyone.’ Me, I keep it real, I am not doing anything wrong. Its legal and I am not abusing it and I am not going over certain levels. From what I learned about it, when I got tested my levels my levels were really low and the doctor was telling me that athletes can burn testosterone.”

It means even with the shots he was below levels that would get him in trouble. I personally dont think it should be illegal if you can prove before you take it that your levels are lower than whats acceptable. As long as you are always below levels when they test you then good on you.

Taking a page outta Dan Hendersons book. He is probably like “If Dan is 6 years older than me and smashing peeps, Well than maybe i should stat taking this shit”. Hey if its legal i have no problem with it.

I am a big fan of Rampage’s, but this seems to be him eating his words about people who do PEDs. TRT seems to be a loophole for people who use PEDs. Granted, he took this to heal his knee and his performance wasn’t that of an unusually strong Rampage. He got one good slam and a nice combo against Bader, but he did get handled. The talk of him not retiring because of TRT is pretty unusual and knocks my respect for him down a notch.

i agree.
i actually don’t respect any of these guys that are using it. it’s cheating mother nature and father time. it sucks that his levels are getting lower, mine are too, but i’m not competing in a sport where there are still plenty of other guys our age that aren’t using it. i guess if everyone is using it, then it’s a level playing field, but as of right now, it’s not. it’s cheating.

We had this argument on another page. I remember telling you that, that comparison was stupid. Robot arms and human arms are not the same… TRT makes your body produce more testosterone not create artificial hormones.

What do you use TRT for? Are you more ripped than usual for doing so? Are you smarter because you use the therapy?

It’s cheating, he’s not supposed to have test levels like a 25 year old. It’s evolution, survival of the fittest, when you can’t do it anymore natural then your time has past. That’s my opinion. And for the record I’m a huge Rampage fan I’m just talking about the subject of TRT in general.

The sport has 2 major aspects: skills and athleticism. Using TRT is cheating on athleticism part. If judging only on skill part, it seems fair that one is leveling the playing field, but a big part of the game is one’s natural ability to perform, recover, and sustain the load. Testosterone is a steroid, but it’s naturally produced in your body. Synthetic steroids (anabolic steroids) are prohibited, but all they really do is mimic the effect of natural steroids such as testosterone. So, it is safe to say that natural testosterone is just as much of the PED as anabolic steroids. It’s kinda like making Diet Coke illegal because it uses artificial sweetener, but keeping regular Coke legal.

People who are so stuck on these dumb ideas that testosterone replacement is “cheating” need to wake up. Soon its going to be “this fighter tested positive for calcium in his system, he was clearing taking several shots of milk per day to make his bones stronger” get over it people, not all bodies are the same and you may not notice it if your not an active person but with these athletes its easy to see and feel the difference when your body is not producing enough of something needed for your body to perform at high levels.

I agree, not sure what to think at the moment….I’m sure tons of fighters are using it, though. Even if he used TRT to rehab his knee, the way he’s talking about it, he will continue to use it….I’m not sure why he went on to mention, “My sex life changed, I was back to five times a night like when I was 25, straight up.” No ones cares about your sex life, Rampage!

I’m not too keen on ‘TRT’ either, but the fact that he’s admitting to it now, especially the fact that he didn’t even fail his drug screening & he’s just coming clean, when really he didn’t have to say anything. I give him some little respect on those principles!

so? trt doesn’t mean you are cheating. dan henderson has being doing trt for years. it just when u do it so much your testosterone levels are higher than the normal person its bad. trt is to make your testosterone levels normal. usually the people with low testosterone are wrestlers because they believe cutting all the weight is to blame for the low testosterone.

I would say according to your logic a young fighter who has normally high levels of testosterone without treatment is cheating against those who are not producing enough testosterone naturally. TRT is evening the playing field and if you people dont see that then you need to construct a door to those close minds.

The problem is that these guys abuse the trt between tests and get there testosterone up to superhuman levels and then cut bakc right before a fight thus passing the drug screening (or they don’t get it down fast enough a la marquardt). The fact is they train with unnaturally ability to recover and accumulate muscle and that builds there body to an unnatural level, it is cheating. The only way it could not be cheating is if the ufc began random and training camp drug testing, they don’t and I don’t really care which fighters use ped personally but trt is a ped like any other.

Why people are mad? The dude just came out and said to the public this is who I am and this is I did. That’s character and I have to respect that. If he had lied about it to protect his career people would have hated him just as much. I don’t get people sometimes.

He’s seemed lethargic for a while now. I’m glad he’s decided to do TRT RESPONSIBLY. It happens to older men, he’s a 33 year old fighter! It isn’t the same as anabolic steroids…. Similar maybe… More research is needed. I don’t think elevated testosterone levels (Not that he would abuse them) aids in the retention of muscle and slows the breakdown of muscles.

Also, he always injures his knees and legs he should get them looked at through an MRI or X-Ray instead of playing Call of Duty so much.

If you look at the way Sonnen is build now with ‘normal’ testosterone levels, and what he was build like when he fought Silva with testosterone levels that went through the roof noone can deny there is a significant difference.

I think testosterone can be used and is used as a performance enhancer if the fighter in question takes more than needed.

Yeah Rampage is cool and I do trust him not to go overboard with it. But even bringing the level up to ‘normal’ isn’t necessarily the right thing to do in my book. It’s a part of the natural abilities a fighter possesses.

Like there is a natural difference between fighters strength wise and some fighters like Nick Diaz are born with great stamina and endurance which helps them to have an edge over others.

If other fighters have naturally more testosterone in their system then it should be just the way it is, without the possibility to go to a doctor and enhance your own levels to get even.

Hendo and Rampage for instance have devastating one punch KO power, something some other fighters don’t possess naturally, is it fair they can’t go to a doctor to get surgery and have the same KO power?

KO power is achieced by technique and anyone can get it with practice and the right coaching. But both fighters possessed higher levels of testosterone before they dipped in their 30s and 40s, Look at Rampages body in recent years compared to when he fought Hendo to unify belts and you will really see the difference.

I have to disagree on that one. Some people never learn how to KO people. They can adjust their techniques and maybe get a few more KO’s than normally, but real KO specialism is a natural ability which not everybody possesses. If it was something anyone could learn, we would see more KO’s.

I think abusing performance enhancing drugs is cheating too but if you’re at a certain age and your testosterone levels are very low you should be taking this treatment athlete or not so I don’t feel that it’s cheating in that case if you just want to be normal and healthy. Would you tell your dad or grandfather not to take testosterone if the doctor told him to? Would you not take it yourself if it had serious health benefits? There are many cases where it’s a completely logical treatment. Low testosterone isn’t a good thing for any man, I see no foul here. His levels were ok on paper, he’s not cheating. It’s not like he ripped Baders head off or showed up dominating with Backnee like Sonnen… he looked worse than he ever has before. Clearly not abuse. Hopefully he gets healthy, signs with a better camp, and can be a contender for as long as Hendo because the only thing holding Rampage back is himself.

…you’re low on blood sugar or iron. Your energy is low. You’re feeling ragged during the 3,4, 5 months of hard training. But, NO, you’re not allowed to take any type of supplements because it is out of the “natural” process of the human body. All supplements should be illegal? What is the difference between any vitamin or mineral that the body needs/produces AND testosterone? If taking supps is acceptable, why not treat TRT the same way?

It’s a complicated issue. People keep saying that you only need TRT is you’ve abused in the past but that is bs. When you’ve been an athlete for most of your life. Constantly pushing yourself, constantly getting hurt. Your body is going to break down. So if at 33 you have low testosterone, your life sucks. You always tired. Have no drive. Basically you feel like a 60 year old man. If you don’t have elevated testosterone, and basically have the same as a person your fighting. Is it cheating?

So I guess a 25 year old with higher levels of testosterone than a 33 year old isn’t at an advantage in comparison to the older fighter? The TRT is meant to give you regular levels like the 25 year old. This equals an even playing field and a longer career for aging fighters.

he is at an advantage. HE IS 8 YEARS YOUNGER THAT IS HIS ADVANTAGE IDIOT. if you cant hang with the 25 year olds then maybe you should hangem up not resort to CHEATING. rampage also has 8 years more experience than the 25 year olds so is that not fair to the 25 year old? i mean comon guys its a PERFORMANCE ENHANCER it should not be used unless its to rehab an injury STUPID IDIOTS. NINJA DOUCHE

Do you have scientific evidence supporting that his test levels are exactly that of a 25 year old? These guys get their shit kicked day in and day out and after awhile their bodies stop producing as much test as they used to. Its not a performance enhancer unless their test levels are sky high. Just a tool for maintenance to stay healthy and NORMAL so their body doesn’t cookie crumble by age 35.

The 25 year old is also at an advantage. He has youth, good knees, good joints, better stamina, stronger than older fighters, they heal faster, builds muscle faster. Used responsibly it is a PERFORMANCE EQUALIZER!

So we should tell all of these older fighters to retire because they have lower testosterone. You’re THE IDIOT. It’s a medical treatment allowable by the Athletic Commission and the UFC. If it is allowable then it can’t be cheating can it? End of discussion. Go fuck yourself and lower your testosterone in the process.

It isn’t cheating unless you abuse it to cheat. He used it to rehab a knee injury on the recommendation of a medical expert. He is simply saying he feels like he is 25 again. Like a little boost. He tested normal for it, his performance was lackluster and he lost. There was no cheating going on here.

I still think it’s a form of cheating. Getting testosterone back to the levels of a 25 year old when in fact you’re well over 30 is not what nature had in mind. It’s natural selection, older warriors need to step down and make way for younger warriors, or they get hurt.

C’mon guy! Really? You’re going to take rampages word for it. He’s not a doc. Clearly he didn’t move around like the young Rampage. Besides There is normal and below normal. I don’t see anything wrong when you use it correctly.

Normal is what your body naturally produces, not what it used to produce 10 years ago. Back in the day when TRT wasn’t as common as it seems to be now, a fighter just got older and started to get slower and losing his strength and started to lose fights against opponents he would have beaten when he was in his prime.

Let nature take it’s course as it’s supposed to.

And I’m not a Rampage hater, on the contrary, he is one of my all time favorites.

Who’s to say what is normal in the modern world of health care. I am sure if you found out you had diabetes you would take insulin to keep you alive and healthy. What is the difference? If taken under doctor’s supervision steroids can support quality of health. Steroids have a stigma attached to them and this is what makes people uncomfortable.

people don’t use insulin to get a physical advantage to try and hurt someone, if your not competing in sports than sure stay as healthy as you can, but using drugs to help you beat someone up is just sad

i think it is a form of cheating…most guys 34 dont need that shit…and they are not fighting…look at randy fighting till 48 or whatevber it waS withiout trhaT SHIT,,,it is just a loop hole…like bisbithc said if you are fighting in a cage your already high test or an alpha male u dont need that…i think rampage used trt in pride befor cuz he was way mopre exiting an had crazy slams..since he started in ufc (where they test for that) he lost his slams and became more boring…rampage only admitted it now cuz he knows its goping to get out…that is sad he was on trt when he fought bader…i lost repect for rampage after he could not finish retard matt hamill who is only in ufc cuz he retarded

omg jackson just fight hendo one more time so he can knock ur ass out, and then just retire and go make some more garbage movies like a-team or never surrender (no offence to bj on taht shitty movie reference)

agreed…if that was rampage on trt then he really lost his drive…the guy is now boring on trt…not to mention he just had interveiw saying he would never do that/…he make up excuses for over weight…first he cant run cuz his knee…well lazy rampage could haqve done swimming…when u have torn shit swimming is great workout to keep in shape and not strain the the area that forrest did perminent damage to with his leg kicks all night to take rampage belt////rampage was all hype fromn pride..in pride he juiced that why had sick slams and exiting fights..soon he in ufc he lost all slams and big power..

I can understand that TRT can be considered cheating, but i started to see it this way. When used properly and under the direction and recommendedation by qualified physician, its legal, it can help in healing up. If it is used properly it wouldn’t make older guys with low testosterone stronger, only to the same level as younger guys, or closer to it. So it just becomes about who has better skills. Wouldn’t that make for better fights, and more of them when the older veteran guys can stick around longer.

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